Automatic check-row-wire machine.



T. L. REGESTER.

AUTOMATIC CHECK ROW WIRE MACHINE. (Application filed May 20. 1 898.)

No. 638,989. Patentgd Dec. |2 ,'|s99.

(No Model.) QSheets-Sheet I.

mja

flue/12%; E I

m: cams FETERS ca. mmaLnua. WASHINGTON, n. c.

N0. 638,989. Patented Dec. 12, I899. T. L. REGESTER.

AUTOMATIC CHECK BOW WIRE MACHINE.

(Application filed May 20 1899.) (No Model.) I 6 Sheets-Shegt 2.

w: NORRIS PETERS co, PNOTO-UTHOTWASHINGTON, n. c.

T. L. REGESTER. AUTOMATIC CHECK ROW WIRE MACHINE.

{Application filed May 20. 1899.\

0.533389. Patented Dec. l2, l899.

m: uonms warms co Puofauma. WASHINGTON n c No. 638,989. Patented D ec."l2, 1899.

I T. L. HEGESTER.

AUTOMATIC CHECK ROW WIRE MACHINE. (Application filed May 20. 1899.)

(N0 Modal.) 6 Shaets-$heat 4';

YHE NORRIS wzrzas co. mmurmvwumuowx n. a

Patented Dec. I2, I899.

T. L. REGESTER. AUTOMATIC CHECK ROW WIRE MACHINE.

(Application filed May 20. 1899.) (No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheat 5.

IIIIII VIIIIIIIII'II'IIIIIIIIIII 4 I TNE NORRIS PETER; no. mcrroumofl wAsumcroN n. c.

N0. 638,989. Patented Dec. l2', I889.

' T. L. REGESTER.

AUTOMATIC CHECK ROW WIRE MACHINE.

(Application filed May 20. 1899.) (No Model.) 6 SheetsShee1 6. I

Ynrria rnmns PATENT FFICE.

'rnoivms LYLE REGESTER, or soon IsLAND, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE ROCK ISLAND PLOWOOMPANY, OF SAME PLACE. I

AUToMATI CHECK-ROW-WIRE MACHENE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,989, dated December 12, 1899.

Application filed May 20, 1899. Serial No. 717i589- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS LYLE REeEs- TER, of Rock Island, in the county of Rock Island and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Check-Row-l/vire Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic checkrow-wire machines, and is in the nature of an improvement upon the machine set forth in an application filed by me September 2, 1898, Serial No. 690,081.

The present invention has for its object to provide a construction of the machine such that the entire mechanism may be driven from a single shaft and by means of a single driving connection, so as to insure simultaneous stopping and starting and synchronism of movement in all of the elements of the machine.

The invention has for a further object the provision of means for more effectively and 'accurately guiding the severed ends of the wire to their proper position relatively to the looping post and pin.

A further object is the simplification of the stripping of the loop from the post and pin and the insuring of positiveness in the movement of these latter to this end.

Other features of the present invention relate to the provision of means for assuring accuracy in the operation of the pullout, by means of which the completed check-row wire is drawn from the machine, and for positively rotating the receiving-reel in conjunction and synchronously with the main portion of the machine.

The invention further relates to certain improvements in the details of construction.

To these ends the invention consists in certain novel features, which I will now proceed to describe and will then particularly point out in the claims. v

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof; Fig. 3, a rear elevation; Fig. 4, an end elevation in section through the pull-out mechanism. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 6 is a similar View taken on the line 6 G of Fig. 2, but look ing 'in the opposite direction. Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view, in front elevation, partly broken away, of the coilers and their associated mechanism. Fig. 8 is a plan View of the same. Fig. 9 is a detail end view, on an enlarged scale, of one of the coilers. Fig. 10 is a detail elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the guide-plate carried by the right-hand coiler. Fig. 11 is a detail side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the upper portion of the looper post and pin; and Fig. 12 is a general elevation, on a reduced scale, of the entire machine, including the receiving-reel.

Referring to said drawings, I will describe only so much of the machine as differs essentially from the machine set forth in my prior application, hereinbefore referred to. The supporting-table is indicated at and the driving-pulley at 26, by means of a belt applied to which movement is imparted to all of the mechanisms composing the machine. The pulley 26 is loosely mounted on a shaft 27, connection therewith being controlled by a clutch 28 and lever 29. The shaft 27 is provided with a pinion 30, which meshes with a gear-wheel 31 on a shaft 32, which carries the various cams by means of which the movements of the greater port-ion of the mechanism of the apparatus are chiefly controlled. The looping-post is indicated at and its pin at 34.

35 indicates the lever by means of which the independent vertical motion of the post 33 is controlled, said lever being pivoted between its ends at 36 on the under side of the table and having its forward end extended under the post 33, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings and as set. forth in detail in my prior application, hereinbefore referred to. At its rear end the lever 35 is located between two cams 37 and 38, arranged one above the same on the shaft 32 and the other below it on a sleeve 39, loosely mounted on the shaft 27. The sleeve 39 is provided with a gear-wheel 40 and the shaft 32 is provided with a similar gear-wheel 4C1, meshing therewith, whereby the shaft 32 and sleeve 39 are caused to 1'0- tate at proper relative speeds, as are also the cams 37 and 38, carried thereby. The lever 35 is provided with a spring 42, which forces the front end of said lever, and consequently the post 33, normally upward. I have found, however, that in the construction described in my prior application, in which this spring is relied upon to operate the lever 35 in one direction, it sometimes occurs through weakness of the spring or other causes that it fails to operate at the proper time and in the proper manner. This disadvantage is overcome by the use of the two cams 37 and 38, the cam 37 being provided with a projection 43, which will strike the rear end of the lever 35 and positively depress the same, thus positively lifting the looping-post, which is positively moved in the opposite direction by the cam 38. Similarly the lever 44, which controls the vertical movements of the pin 34, has its rear end located between two cams 45 and 46, carried, respectively, by the shaft 32 and sleeve 39, so that the movements of this lever and of the looping-pin are positive in each direction and do not depend upon spring action, as in my prior construction.

The pin 34 is provided at its upperend with a bevel or incline 47 in order to insure the proper location of the severed end of the outgoing wire relatively to said pin. This bevel or incline is directed toward the front of the machine, so that as the pin rises through the post prior to the forming of the loop the said wire will be forced in front of the pin in case it should happen to lie too far to the rear and over the top of the pin.

The coiler-aetuating shaft 48 is driven directly from the shaft 27 instead of being driven independently of the remaining portions of the mechanism, as in my prior application. To this end the shaft 27 is provided with a sprocket-wheel 49, around which passes a sprocket chain or belt 50, which also passes around a sprocket-wheel 51, secured on a sleeve 52, mounted on the projecting end of the shaft 48 and free to rotate relatively thereto. The shaft 48 is provided with gear-wheels 53 and 54, by means of which the coilers are driven, and immediately adjacent to one of these gear-wheels,.as 53, the sleeve 52 is pro vided with a toothed or ratchet wheel 55, while the wheel 53 has pivoted thereon a pawl 56,. the toe 57 of which is adapted to engage the teeth of the wheel 55, while the heel 58 of said pawl is acted upon by a spring 59, bearing against said heel and against an abutment 60 on the wheel 53 and tending to force the toe of the pawl in engagement with the wheel 55. A stop-arm 61, pivoted on an axis 62, is held by means of a spring 63 so as to project normally into the path of the heel 58 of the pawl 56, and said stop-arm has connected to it an actuating-arm 64, the end of which projects into the path of a cam projection on the shaft 32', as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4 of the drawings. It will be seen that by reason of this mechanism the constant rotary motion of the ratchet-wheel 55 is transmitted to the coiler-operating shaft as an intermittent rotary motion in the following manner: The parts being in the position shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, the cam projection 65 comes into contact with the arm 64 and depressing the same withdraws the stop-arm 61 from underneath the heel 58 of the pawl 56. The spring 59 thereupon forces the toe 57 of said pawl into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel 55, and connection being thus established between said ratchet-wheel and the gear-wheel 53 rotary motion is imparted to the coiler-operating shaft 48 and said shaft makes one revolution. In the meantime the cam projection 65 has passed clear of the arm 64, whereupon the spring 63 returns the stop-arm 61 to the position shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, and as the wheel 53 completes its revolution the heel 58 of the pawl comes into contact with the stop-arm, and the toe of the pawl is thereby withdrawn from engagement with the ratchetwheel and the movement of the gear and of the coileroperating shaft is arrested. In order to prevent any recoil or backward movement of the coiler-operating shaft and its parts, I provide on the opposite side of said wheel to that on which the pawl 56 islocated a projection 66, and there is mounted on the frame of the machine a pivoted dog 67, provided with a terminal incline 68 and shoulder 69 and held in the path of the projection 66 by means of a spring 70. As the gear-wheel 55 approaches the limit of its motion the projection 66 comesinto contact with the incline 68 and the dog 67 yields to permit the passage of said projection. As soon as the projection is past,-however, the dog is thrown back into place by means of the spring 70, and any recoil of the parts is prevented by the engagement of the projection 66 with the shoulder 69 of the dog. I also provide a stop 71, which limits the return movement of the arms 61 and 64 under the influence of the spring 63 by reason of the engagement of said stop with the arm 64, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

The coilers are driven in opposite directions from the coiler-operating shaft in the manner already described in in yprior application, hereinbefore referred to. Instead of providing coilers having cylindrical bodies, however, I prefer to construct them of two parallel flat plates or bars 72, projecting from and desirably formed in one piece with the coiler-shafts and forming between them a vertical slot 73. At their adjacent ends these bars are united by means of an end plate 74, recessed or cut away at. its upper portion, as shown at 75, and havinga V-shaped notch 76, terminating in a central aperture 77 for the passage of the wire. The cut-away portion forms a space to receive the coiled portion of the wire which is formed by the rotation of the eoiler, and the actual coiling is accomplished by means of agrooved Wheel 78, mounted on the face of the plate 74 within the rabbeted or cut-away portion 75 at one side of the aperture 77, with its outer face flush with the outer face of the plate 74. Grooved rollers 79 are also mounted in the farther ends of the bodies of the coilers, over which the wire may pass as it travels through them. Within that one of the coilers which is first entered by the incoming wire I provide a combined guide and lifting plate 80, which is pivoted at 81 in the slot 73 of the coiler-head and which extends thence to the extremity of said slot nearest the looper-post. This plate is provided on its upper edge with a shoulder 82, the face of which is inclined from front to rear as it approaches the looperpost, as shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings. The plate is so located that its lower end projects below the body of the coiler, and it there rests upon the forward end of a lever 83, which is pivoted between its ends, as indicated at 84 in Figs. 2 and 5 of .the drawings. The rear end of this lever is located in the path of a cam 85 (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5 of the drawings) and provided with two projections 86 and 87 on its periphery, whereby the lever 83 may be vibrated. During the inward movement of the severed end of the incoming wire the rear end of the lever 83 bears upon the incline of the projection 86, and by this means a gradual upward movement of the forward end of the lever 83 is caused, imparting a corresponding upward movement of the guide-plate 80 and presenting its upper edge in an inclined position to the incoming wire, which is thus guided upward, so as to pass over the top of the looperpost. At the same time the contact of the incoming wire with the transversely-inclined shoulder 82 on said plate guides the end of said wire to the rear and causes it to pass back of the looper-pin. After the wire is in position and before the operation of coiling the rear end of the lever 83 passes clear of the projection 86 and the front end of said lever drops by gravity, thereby permitting the guide-plate 80 to drop downward out of the way of the wire. The guide-plate will of course normally drop by gravity; but in order to insure this downward movement and prevent sticking of the guide-plate I provide a spring 88, which is secured to the coilerhead at one end and connected at the other end to the guide-plate near its free extremity, acting upon the same, so as to force the guideplate downward. After the coiling and upon the completion of the knotin order to permit the same to be withdrawn from the machine the looper-pin 34 is depressed, while the looper-post 33 is raised. At this time the rear end of the lever 83 comes into contact with the second projection 87 on the cam 85, and the front end of said lever is thereby raised, thus forcing the plate 80, upward and moving the wire upward along with it and clear of the coiler, so as to facilitate its being withdrawn therefrom. After the knot has moved clear of the post the projection 87 passes clear of the lever 83, and the plate 80 drops to its former position.

The practical operation of the pull-out mechanism described in my prior application, by means of which the finished product is drawn from the machine, discloses the fact that any variation between the length of the separate links or sections which may occur either in starting the machine or afterward will be reproduced in subsequent links orsections unless special provisionis made to counteract this. This arises from the fact that the pull-out clutch engages a knot which has already been formed and drawn from the machine prior to the starting of the outward movement of said clutch, and as there is more or less lost motion or slipping of the clutch along the wire before it engages the knot the amount'of wire drawn from the machine by the said clutch will vary in accordance with the length of time intervening between its starting on its outward movement and its engagement with the knot. In order to obviate this difficulty, I provide a vibrating lever 89, which is pivoted at its lower end by means of a pivot-bolt 90 to a bracket-arm 91, extending from the frame of the machine and slotted, as indicated at 92, to permit adjust ment of the location of the pivot 90 nearer to or farther from the machine. At its upper end the vibrating lever 89 is provided with a clutch 93, similar to the clutch 94, carried by the standard on the sliding rack-bar 96. The vibrating lever 89 is connected to the rack-bar 96 by means of a chain or other flexible connection 97 in such a manner that toward the end of the outward motion of said rack-bar the vibrating lever will also have imparted to it an outward motion, and there is provided a spring 98, connected to the vibrating lever 89, so as to return it to its normal position upon the return movement of the rack-bar 96 and the consequent slackening of the flexible connection 97. The lever 89 is provided with a stop 99, which bears against the bracket 91 to limit the inward movement of said lever. In the operation of this portion of the machine after the formation and completion of a knot by the machine the rack-bar 96 moves outward until its clutch 94: engages with one of the knots previously formed and proceeds to pull the wire through the machine, thus drawing out the completed product. At about the time the knot just formed passes clear of the machine the flexible connection 97 becomes taut and the vibrating lever 89 moves outward and engages this latter knot, said lever being located close enough to the machine to effect this result. It will be observed that the flexible connection 97 is connected to the lever 89 at a point between the clutch and the pivot of said lever, so that the clutch 93 of said lever moves at a greater rate of speed than the clutch 94 of the rack-bar. This accelerated speed of the clutch 93 carries forward the wire independently of the clutch 94, and thus moves the knot last formed in the machine to a precise and definite distance from 4 ceases the looper post and pin, so that each link of the product is always of exactly the same length as its predecessorsand successors, and a product of unvarying uniformity is thus obtained. The precise dimensions of the links may be controlled by the adjustment of the pivot-bolt of the vibrating lever and by the regulation of the length and point of attachment of the flexible connection 97.

In order to provide a proper disposal of the completed product as it is drawn from the machine, I employ a reel 100, the shaft of which is provided with a pulley 101, which is connected by means of a belt 102 with a pulley-103, secured on a shaft 10%, mounted in .suitable bearings at the adjacent end of the frame or table 25. Upon this shaft is loosely mounted a sleeve 105, provided with a pinion 106, which meshes with the sliding rack 96, and said sleeve is connected with the shaft 104: by means of a clutch 107, so that when said sleeve is rotated in one direction motion is imparted to the shaft, the sleeve being free to rotate in the other direction without imparting movement to the shaft. In order to prevent any reverse motion of the reel during the return movement of the rack, which reverse movement might occur by reason of undue friction between the sleeve 105 and shaft 104, there is provided between the pulley 103 and a part of the adjacent bearing 108 a clutch connection 109, whereby said shaft and pulley are free to move in one direction, but prevented from moving in the opposite direction. It will be observed that by reason of the construction set forth the reel is positively driven from the same source of power as the remainder of the machine and has imparted to it a movement synchronous with that of the rack-bar of the pull-out mechanism, said movement occurring only during the outward or feeding movement of said mechanism.

I claim 1. In a machine for making check-row wire, the combination, with the coilers and the looper, of a post and a pin mounted therein, and automatic mechanism for positively imparting to said pin a vertical movement both upward and downward, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for making check-row wire, the combination, with the coilers and the looper, of a post and a pin mounted therein, automatic means for positively imparting to said pin a vertical movement both upward and downward, a lever for imparting to the post a vertical movement independently of the pin, and automatic means for positively actuating said lever in both directions, substantially as described.

3. In a machine for making check-row wire, the combination, with two coilers rotatablein opposite directions at a fixed distance from each other, of a vertically-moving oscillating looper, a looping post and pin located between the coilers and in line with the looper, and automatic mechanism for positively imparting independent vertical movement to said post and pin, substantially as described.

1. In a machine for making check-row wire, the combination, with alooping-post, of means for feeding the outgoing wire over said post, and a looping-pin mounted and vertically movable in said post and having its upper extremity beveled as described, whereby the proper lateral location of the wire relatively to the pin is insured upon the upward movement of said pin, substantially as described.

5. In a machine for making check-row wire, the combination, with a looping-post provided with diametrically opposite projections at its upper end, of a vertically-movable looping-pin centrally mounted in said post between the projections, said pin being provided with a beveled upper end, and means for feeding the outgoing wire over the top of said post, substantially as described.

6. In a machine for makingcheck-row wire, a coiler-head comprising two fiat parallel bars having their outer free ends united by a transverse plate notched to receive the wire and havingaguiding andsupporting roller mounted in the space between said bars near their other ends and adapted to rotate in a plane parallel with said bars, substantially as described.

7. In a machine for making check-row wire, a coiler-head comprising parallel bars and a transverse plate uniting said bars at their ends, notched to receive the wire and rabbeted or cut away to receive a coiling-roller, and a coiling-roller mounted in said rabbet with its outer face flush with the outer face of said plate, substantially as described.

8. In a machine for makingcheck-row Wire, the combination, with a coiler-operating shaft having thereon a fixed wheel and a loose sleeve provided with a constantly driven wheel and with a toothed or ratchet wheel, of a pawl mounted on said fixed wheel, a spring acting to engage said pawl with the ratchetwheel, a stop-arm normally located in the path of the pawl, a cam adapted to remove said arm from the path of the pawl, and means for simultaneously rotating said constantly-rotatin g wheel and cam, substantially as described.

9. In a machine for making check-row wire, the combination, with an intermittently-rotating coiler-operating shaft, of a Wheel secured on said shaft and provided with a projection, and a yielding dog provided with a beveled and shouldered extremity arranged in the path of said projection, wherebyrecoil of the coilers upon the arrest of their movement is prevented, substantially as described.

10. In a machine for making check-row wire, the combination, with a coiler-head having a vertical opening longitudinally thereof, of a combined guide and lifting-plate mounted in said vertical opening, and automatic mechanism for imparting to said plate a vertical movement while the wire is being fed through the coiler, substantially as described.

11. In a machine for making check-row wire, the combination, With a coiler having a vertical opening extending longitudinally thereof, of a combined guide and lifting plate pivoted at one end in said opening, and automatic means for imparting a vertical movement to the free end of said plate during the feeding in of the wire through the coiler, substantially as described.

12. In a machine for making check row wire, the combination, with a coiler having a vertical opening extending longitudinally thereof, of a vertically-movable guide and lifting plate mounted in said opening and provided with a transversely-inclined shoulder on its upper portion, substantially as described.

13. In a machine for making check-row wire, the combination, with a coiler having a vertical opening extending longitudinally thereof, of a vertically-movable guide and lifting plate mounted in said opening and extending below the same, a lever adapted to engage said plate below the coiler, and means for intermittently actuating said lever, substantially as described.

14. In a machine for making check-row wire, the combination, with a coiler having a vertical opening extending longitudinally thereof, of a vertically-movable guide and lifting plate mounted in said opening andextending below the same, a lever adapted to engage said plate below the coiler, means for intermittently actuating said lever, and a spring for depressing said plate, substantially as described.

15. In a machine for making check-row wire, a pull-out mechanism comprising a reciprocating clutch for engaging an already-formed knot on the wire, and a second clutch having a differential movement relatively to the first clutch and adapted to engage the knot just formed and move the same a fixed distance from the knot-forming mechanism, substantiall y as described.

16. Inamachine for making check-row Wire, a pull-out mechanism comprising a reciprocatingclutch for engaging an already-formed knot on the wire, a second clutch adapted to engage the knot just formed as it comes from the machine and having a differential movement relatively to the first-mentioned clutch,

- bination with a vibrating lever having a flexible connection with said clutch and provided at its free extremity with a second clutch to engage the knot just formed as it comes from the machine, the point of flexible connection of the leverbeing between its pivot and its free end, wherebya differential movement is imparted to the clutch carried by said lever, and means for returning said lever to its normal position, substantially as described.

18. In a machine for making check-row wire,

the combination; with automatic feeding,

looping and coiling mechanism, of a reciprocating pull-out mechanism forintermittently withdrawing the completed product from the machine, a reel for receiving said product from the pull-out mechanism, and connecting mechanism between said reel and pull-out mechanism, whereby a synchronous intermittent rotary motion is imparted to said reel, substantially as described.

19. In a machine for making check-row wire,

the combination,with a reciprocating rack-bar carrying a pull-out clutch, of a reel to receive the product from said clutch, and a shaft intermediate said rack and reel, operatively connectedwith the reel to rotate the same and provided with a pinion meshing with the rack and having a clutch connection with theshaft, substantially as described.

20. In a machine for making check-row wire, the combinatiomwith areciprocating rack-bar provided witha pull-out clutch, of a pinion meshing with said rack-bar, a shaft having a clutch connection with said pinion to rotate along with it in one direction only, means for preventing the rotation of said shaft in the opposite direction, and a reel operativelyconnected with and driven from said shaft, sub stantially as described.

21. In a machine for making check-row wire,

the combination ,with-a coiler having a vertical opening extending longitudinally thereof, of a looping mechanism comprising a verticallymovable pin around which the loop is formed,

a vertically-movable plate mounted in theopening of the coiler, and means for lifting said plate after the loop is formed, substantially as described.

22. Ina machine for makingcheckrow wire,

said post and having its upper extremitybew eled as described to insure the proper location of one of the wires on the post, and coil ers located on opposite sides of said post and pin, one of said coilers being provided with a vertically-movable plate having a transversely-inclined shoulder on its upper portion to insure the proper location of the other wire on said post, substantially as described.

24-. In amachine for making check-row wire, the coiling operations, and then again lifting the combination, with the vertically-movable said plate after the completion of the coils to [O looper post and pin, of coilers having vertical lift the wire above the coilers and looping-pin, openings therethrongh, aguide and lifting substantially as described.

5 plate mounted and vertically movable in one THOMAS LYLE REGESTER.

of the eoilers, and automatic mechanism for Vitnesses: first lifting said plate during the feeding in J-. D. VAN BUREN,

of the Wire, then depressing the same during l WW. II. BAUMANN. 

